


Where You Are Going

by Cercus



Category: Naruto
Genre: Afterlife, Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-22
Updated: 2016-03-22
Packaged: 2018-05-28 07:19:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6319879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cercus/pseuds/Cercus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You were always at my side, the least I can do is to be beside you at the end. I know it cannot be, but I wish I could go to where you have gone. How I wish I could join you there, Haku." <br/>________</p><p>Death holds no surprises, or at least that's how Zabuza thought it would be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Where You Are Going

Death held no fear, mystery, or uncertainty for the demon of the mist. He was certain of his fate. All that would await a man of his sins would be an eternity of punishments. Still, lying on his side with the snow falling softly around him…all he could feel was peace. It was cold and soft on his skin like an unsure kiss. With this peaceful feeling and the last memories of Haku’s face…he would brave the afterlife and all of its torments.

His eyes started to gloss and grow pale as the life and warmth faded from his body and his vision grew white. It was strange…he’d always thought that when you faced death things would grow dark, but all around him all he could see was white. Everything was cold like an everlasting winter. The wind moaned softly in his ears and he felt as though he were being consumed by the flurries of soft white snow. 

The landscape around him slowly sharpened and Zabuza could feel himself settling back to the ground. His feet connected with snow covered earth. It felt heavy and real but at the same time ethereal and distant, as though he was in the mists of his homeland. Around him a field of snow solidified and beyond that barren trees of ice, their cold pale branches reaching up to the pure white sky. It was a large circular clearing, vast and empty but somehow familiar. 

His breath fogged in the air in front of him and his brow furrowed deeply. Certain he was dead, but not knowing where in the universe he could have ended up, Zabuza was confused, cold, but in no pain. His body felt numb and heavy as he had in death. He chanced a step forward towards the center on stiff legs and nearly stumbled. Wobbling slowly through the thick snow, he developed an ungraceful trudge. As he moved forward like a shaky newborn the air of the field cleared further to show a peasant’s farm. In the yard there was an old well, a small barren garden, and finally a cottage. All of these things were just as white as the surrounding snow and ice. “Can this possibly be….hell?” Zabuza breathed aloud. The sound seemed to travel no further than his own ears.

He stepped up to the door of the cottage, noting with mild irritation that when his foot connected with the wood floor his step made no sound. Even when he knocked, there was no noise. It was as if the snow consumed every noise that dared to defile it’s temple of silence. Pushing the door of the cottage open with one hand he stepped inside. Expecting a bit of relief from the wind, Zabuza was disappointed to find it was no warmer inside the house than outside. He could still see his breath and feel the tingling in the tips of his fingers as they chilled with frostbite.

He closed the door behind him, looking over the simple furnishings of the small pale cottage. It seemed to be set up for two people. Two futons folded in the corner, two tea cups on the table, and two cushions near the long sleeping hearth. He looked down in the door way and was shocked to see a pair of familiar sandals. They were small wooden shoes, the same he’d bought for Haku earlier that spring. He fell to his knees trembling, taking both of the shoes in his hands. “It…cannot be…” he whispered, tears welling up in his eyes and threatening to spill over. 

“Welcome home….Zabuza…”

The soft sweet voice shook the fearless shinobi to his very core. Zabuza looked up from his spot on the floor, wide eyes meeting with Haku’s and causing him to look away quickly. “It cannot be…This is a trick…” He whispered stubbornly. Haku reached out his hand to touch Zabuza’s cheek but the older man pulled back away, afraid and suspicious. Haku carefully got on his knees in front of him, keeping calm as he reached for his master’s hands. “It is no trick…” he promised gently, placing his hands on top of Zabuza’s. They were cold as death; it made the larger man shiver with more than the chill. 

“Why are you here...Haku…?” Zabuza whispered, tears spilling over and running down his cheeks. “When I died…I wished…I wished to go where you had gone…I was certain I’d never get to see you again…To have the chance to thank you…” 

Haku smiled a soft sad sort of smile and shook his head. “I wished the same…It is I who should thank you Zabuza…You gave me a purpose even in death I was able to be useful. To serve you.”

“You served me well…Even to your end,” Zabuza agreed, surprising the boy as he suddenly pulled him to his chest in a tight embrace. 

Haku let out a small gasp, eyes wide and startled but not resisting. “Master Zabuza?” He questioned in a small voice. 

Zabuza shook his head and placed a hand on the back of Haku’s head. “You never questioned my orders…Fighting when you didn’t want to, killing for my dreams even when it broke your heart to do so, giving your life to save me…and I never once thanked you for your loyalty…Thank you, Haku. Thank you…You made me so proud.”

Haku trembled in his arms, tears sparkling in the corners of his eyes. He’d never expected to hear Zabuza say these things, much less to him. “Zabuza…I…” He stammered, over come with emotions. He felt warmth spreading from his chest all the way into his fingers. Cutting through the chill of the room the warmth spread from Haku to Zabuza as well. The older shinobi squeezed him closer, enjoying the warmth and feeling peace again for the first time since he’d arrived in the strange place. What needed to have been said had been said. He sighed deeply, wondering if this could be a place of healing before the true afterlife. 

The farm seemed to have everything that they needed. The garden, trees, and well produced just enough food, wood, and water to keep them fed, warm, and sustained. Zabuza was at first displeased that there was only just enough for the day, worried they might face hardships with so little to share between the two of them, but quickly found the stores replenished the next day. Haku explained that it had been this way since he’d arrived there, and though their deaths had been mere moments apart, it had felt like he’d lived in the cottage for weeks before Zabuza arrived. 

They settled into a mundane routine of contentment. Rising early to do some small chores and going to bed together at the same time every day as the lights started to dim. At first Zabuza didn’t question their life in this place. Haku seemed happy here and keeping Haku from happiness had been his biggest regret upon death. But as the days stretched on endlessly, and he felt as if they’d spent more than a lifetime in the same field, the demon of the mist began to grow restless. He’d never been one to become complacent with just enough. He wanted to know what lay beyond the trees of ice, if there was more beyond their farm and field. 

As they harvested the vegetables from the garden for the day’s meals, Zabuza looked up from the potatoes he was digging and met Haku’s gaze. “Haku…Have you ever left the field here?” He ask, studying his young companion’s face carefully. 

Haku looked away carefully and smiled, shaking his head. “No…I’ve never tried. This place…it was so comfortable. I was afraid to try and go…” He confessed before brushing off his hands and getting up from the dirt. “I was thinking I’d try to make us some curry. We haven’t had that in a while.”

Something in Haku’s tone didn’t set right with Zabuza. He had been too careful to try and make leaving sound like an odd thought, too avoidant of the matter. Brushing the dirt from his own hands as well Zabuza rose to his feet and headed in the opposite direction of the house. Haku watched him go with a sad expression on his features. He’d known this day would come for the shinobi.

As Zabuza reached the edge of the field, just before he could cross into the trees, something cold and strong caught him by the leg. Startled he looked down and attempted to pull free. A large shackle and chain of ice had risen up from the deep snow and attached itself to his ankle. It chimed and clanked like bones as he pulled against it to no avail. Turning back to the house for help, as soon as he stepped back into the field the restraint disappeared. He was confined to this place. 

The sky had started to grow dark before Zabuza returned to the cottage. Haku looked up from where he was making dinner, looking sad and a bit frightened to see his master’s face. To his surprise Zabuza was smiling. 

“I went all the way around the field…my chain only stretches as far as the tree line. So…when were you going to tell me that this is hell after all?” the older ninja ask, making himself comfortable by the hearth. “A comfortable hell…I would have never imagined such a boring cage, Haku…” 

Haku averted his eyes and smiled slightly. “…When I died…All I could wish for was just enough to be contented and my reason for living…I considered this place my heaven.” 

Zabuza sighed and leaned back on his elbows. “And I was certain I would end up in purgatory …but I wished to go where you were going…Looks like we both got what we expected?”

Haku crept up closer and sat beside Zabuza. “…Will you forgive me for trapping you in my heaven, Zabuza? For making my home your cage?” 

Zabuza was silent for a long time before leaning over and pressing a kiss to Haku’s forehead. “…You were mine in life. My tool, my weapon, my companion…you gave me everything you had…I’m yours in this life…” 

The boy seemed pleased with this, flushing pink at the kiss to his forehead before returning the gesture. “I promise to take good care of you, Zabuza…” 

The demon of the mist smiled lightly and nodded, he could still feel the cold tightness of his chain around his ankle. A bittersweet heaven, a beautiful hell.


End file.
